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Barcelona terror attack: Spain hunts for van driver

Barcelona terror attack: Spain hunts for van driver

Spain mounts a sweeping anti-terror operation after a suspected Islamist militant drove a van into crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people before fleeing, in what police suspect was one of multiple planned attacks.

Video shows horrific aftermath in Barcelona

Brown shooting investigation opens

Small crowds stage largely peaceful protests over the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

It's a matter of safety, some say.

Since his name was released last week, Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9, has remained holed up. He hasn't been seen. He hasn't been heard from. And any social media accounts he once had have been deactivated, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Police officer Darren Wilson attends a city council meeting in Ferguson, Missouri, on February 11. Photo: AP

One measly picture of him circulating around the internet is an image released by the city of Ferguson. It shows a slightly-balding man in a blue police uniform apparently exiting a city-council meeting.

"I can't remember any time in the last 10 years, at least, where somebody's completely gone into hiding, for fear of his life," Jonathan Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management in Los Angeles, told the Post-Dispatch. "Frankly, if I'd been advising his family, the first thing I would have said was, 'hide'. In the near term, saving his life is more important than anything else … He's had some advice to dive down a hole and take cover for now."

He graduated in 2004 from St. Charles West High School in Saint Charles, Missouri. He played varsity hockey and was on the yearbook staff. According to the Post-Dispatch, "The first page [of the yearbook] shows him with a mop of hair, more like a surfer or rock star than the crew-cut police officer depicted in a recent photo."

Now, he's on paid administrative leave while state and federal prosecutors investigate. For now, no charges have been filed. If he returns to the job, he must undergo two psychological evaluations, police told CNN.

Wilson's long-time high school friend Jake Shepard told the AP: "He's not the type of person to harbour any hate for anybody. He was always nice, respectable and well-mannered, a gentleman. He doesn't have anything bad to say about anybody, ever. He's very genuine."